# 137 GB hard drive limit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624 "2003-07-06T21:10:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/1 "2003-07-06T21:10:49Z")
My father wants to purchase a new harddrive for his computer. He is very worried about a 137 GB limit to harddrive size that he read about. I am 99% sure that this will not effect his fairly recent computer, but he wants to be 100%. So, what do I need to look up to be 100% sure? It is a gateway computer (I will open it up and find out what MB it has if necesary) Runs WinXP 256 mb ram 1.8Ghz P4 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/2 "2003-07-06T21:17:29Z")
No current mainboard can support drives larger than 137 GB because until now they all used 28-bit addressing. Recently a consortium of drive manufacturers released a new [“Big Drive” specification](http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1055191,00.asp) that will allow ATA drives to address 48 bits. What on Earth is he storing that takes up that much space, anyway?? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/3 "2003-07-06T21:37:03Z")
How big of a drive can ATA handle? The article says, “144 petabytes or 144,000 gigabytes”, so which is it? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/4 "2003-07-06T21:40:18Z")
I just read that article as well, but it is from over two years ago. There are _still_ no MB’s that support 48-bit addressing? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/5 "2003-07-06T21:43:09Z")
Misprint, I think. I suspect they meant to say “144,000 terabytes”. [This article](http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1055191,00.asp) concurs. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/6 "2003-07-06T21:47:39Z")
There appear to be some that support 48-bit addressing now. it’s not something I’d really worry about. If you’re not doing anything that’s _extremely_ data-intensive, like doing full-motion, texture-mapped CGI, you shouldn’t worry either. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/7 "2003-07-06T21:49:59Z")
That’s the same article in both links, so it’s understandable why they concur. But it still doesn’t make sense = 144 petabytes != 144 terabytes, nor is it equal to 144 gigabytes. That’s some misprint. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/8 "2003-07-06T21:52:42Z")
That’s because it _is_ the same link. [Here](http://www.wdc.com/en/library/eide/137Barrier.asp) is the fixed link. 144 petabytes = 144,000 terabytes = 1,440,000 gigabytes. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/9 "2003-07-06T22:21:34Z")
I recently put a 220G disk in a machine, and went to a few hassles along the way. My experience isn’t a perfect overlap, as it was on a Linux box, so I won’t post my exact experience. But I’ll tell you that there are several things which can cause problems, one or more of which may need to be addressed: - The Bios may need to be upgraded; check the Mfg site - The Disk controller card may need to be upgraded. In my case, they included a controller with the drive, as I guess this is pretty common. - The OS may need to be patched. In my case, the drive came with software to upgrade most Windows Sad to say, I think there’s a fourth that I can’t recall. I may have documentation at work; I’ll check tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/10 "2003-07-06T22:32:40Z")
> [@](#): > > There appear to be some that support 48-bit addressing now. it’s not something I’d really worry about. If you’re not doing anything that’s extremely data-intensive, like doing full-motion, texture-mapped CGI, you shouldn’t worry either. I have **no** idea what this means, Q.E.D. What CGI and data storage have to do with each other - aside from the fact that CGI needs lots of storage - is beyond me. Maybe Muad’Dib’s dad just wants to be able to use all the disk space he’s paid for?? Muad’Dib - most of these drives come with ATA133 controller cards in the box. If this drive will NOT contain the Windows partition, simply power the box off, install the card and drive then boot into Windows and install the driver for the card (if necessary. XP will probably pick it up automatically). If the drive WILL contain the Windows partition, install the driver **first** , physicallly install the card and drive then enter the system BIOS and change the boot order to SCSI (or EXT\_SCSI or EXT depending on your motherboard). Keep in mind also that your Pop will need to format the drive as NTFS, as XP will not format FAT32 drives larger than (IIRC) 30GB, although you can format the drive using a third-party disk tool such as Partition Magic if you MUST use FAT32. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/11 "2003-07-06T22:36:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rex Fenestrarum \* > **I have no idea what this means, Q.E.D. What CGI and data storage have to do with each other - aside from the fact that CGI needs lots of storage - is beyond me.** What else would I mean? Most people have no use for that kind of disk space. I don’t. I meant exactly what I said–there’s no magic to understanding my statement. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/12 "2003-07-06T23:02:40Z")
- - - Most giant drives have their own adapter/controller card and if they don’t, you can buy an ATA controller card that fits in a PCI slot and allows you to hook up four more ATA drives to it. Most any such controller card will go over 137gb, and mine cost only $40, it was the cheapest one I could find locally… The catch is that it’s wise to leave the hard drive with your OS and the “boot” CD-rom drive directly connected to the motherboard. The reason is that the OS requires drivers in order to use the ATA controller card, and you may run into a problem if your computer has to load in safe mode --\>that is, without loading drivers. (It’s _supposed_ to be able to start anyway somehow, but there you go) If your OS HD and boot-CD are directly connected to the motherboard anyway, it isn’t ever an issue. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/13 "2003-07-06T23:09:54Z")
Video files, **Q.E.D.**. Vast numbers of films are now entering the public domain (or were, before a certain government gave a certain mouse a new lease on life). There are hundreds of old films which have fallen into the public domain. Once they’re in the public domain, they’re fair game to keep and stuff a hard drive with. A bloated XP-type operating system and 200 free and silent films could probably begin to fill the space. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/14 "2003-07-06T23:11:09Z")
That’s what CD/Rs are for. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/15 "2003-07-06T23:41:16Z")
CD/R, aren’t much goo when you want to listen to the tens of thousands (and I do mean tens of thousands) of MP3’s my father has… collected. ---
**Author:** ![BKABBY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@BKABBY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKABBY)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/16 "2003-07-06T23:44:51Z")
Can’t you just partition it and avoid the hassle all together? Or is that limit (137 GB) even _with_ partitioning? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/17 "2003-07-06T23:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > 144 petabytes = 144,000 terabytes = 1,440,000 gigabytes. Sigh, just when I thought I had it down. Correct me if I’m wrong, but an ATA drive can handle: 144 petabytes, or 144,000 terabytes, or 144,000,000 gigabytes. Seriously, 137 GB doesn’t sound like all that much to me. I know several people who have filled 30-50 GB drives with data. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/18 "2003-07-06T23:55:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > **144,000,000 gigabytes.** Err…yeah, that’s what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/19 "2003-07-06T23:59:00Z")
Why not just put two drives? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624/20 "2003-07-07T02:54:29Z")
I have 3, 120’s and a 160 gig unit on my machine in addition to a CD burner and DVD burner (all inside a little Presario 6000 chassis). As DougC indicated many (not all) 160 + gig drives will come with an ATA PCI controller card that bypasses the 137 gig limit. If your father is concerned about going bigger than 120 gigs one of these cards will cost around $ 40.00 as DougC indicated. Here the one I use [Ultra ATA/133 PCI Adapter Card](http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/accessories/ultra_ata/ultra_ata_133_pci_adapter_card/index.htm) that came with the 160 gig maxtor. It’s basically a Promise Ultra133 TX2 OEM that Maxtor rebadges and markets under it’s name. It works great! It does not require separate drivers under XP. [Here is a review and feature list.](http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_hardware_00034.asp) I believe that shortly some of the newest MB BIOSes should or will have this 137+ capability built in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/137-gb-hard-drive-limit/186624.md?page=2)